Thread: How much do you spend buying a vehicle?

So I've never spent more than $4500 on buying a new (to me) vehicle before, everything has been 15+ years old but generally still in good nick.
But lately I've been contemplating buying something much newer as I can afford it, and why not have a bit of luxury or at least not 20 year old suspension and interiors.

I've heard that the general rule used to be spend the equivalent of you years salary, but have also heard 50% of your salary.
Also seen some 20/4/10 rule, or similar.

Not wanting to go into whether modern vehicles are better/more reliable, or if it's a good investment or not, just interested to hear if there is a general rule people use.

Dont over think it, buy what you know you can afford, knowing that pretty much whatever you buy you'll lose at least half its value when you come to sell it, depending on how long you keep it of course. Assuming you're buying something at a higher price than you have in the past, which were already at there lowest value point.

It also comes down to are you happy to have that amount of money tied up in a vehicle, or could you put that money to better use else where. Everyones situation is different.

Have only had older vehicles, was in a position where i could afford a new triton and went for it. Was it worth it...? Probably would i do it again...? No i'd look for a petrol 2-4 years old

I've only ever spent between 10-20k on most vehicles I've had but I've always paid cash never had one on tick and probably never will

If you are not scared of running a modern car out of warranty, look at a 6 - 8 year old car as they have lost the bulk of their value and are still in good nick.
They also won’t lose too much more.
If you can drive them for 5 years you can then regard them as owing you nothing and whatever you get then is a bonus.

I like Euros (VWs) for this reason as NZers as a rule are terrified of them, this means we pick up 6-8 year old cars for around 10 - 15% of their new price.
Plenty will bash them but you cannot beat that for value.

Jap cars tend to hold their value a bit better so are more expensive to buy but then you get the benefit of a bit more back down the track.
As a rule of thumb this will definitely get you the best valueless for money from a later model car.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brought a new ute every 3 years for the last 20 years, worth it yes, if you can live with loosing 5 grand a year. Have gone the other way now and buy 5 grand hunting vehicles and replace the family vehicle every 3 years with a new one.

Originally Posted by tetawa

Brought a new ute every 3 years for the last 20 years, worth it yes, if you can live with loosing 5 grand a year. Have gone the other way now and buy 5 grand hunting vehicles and replace the family vehicle every 3 years with a new one.

I take it you used them as work vehicles? Or do you just like having something new that (probably) wont cause you any issues?

Originally Posted by Beetroot

I take it you used them as work vehicles? Or do you just like having something new that (probably) wont cause you any issues?

The original one was while I was self employed and got the tax breaks with it. After that they were for hunting plus had a large boat that needed the 3.5 tonne towing capabilities. The boat has gone so don't need the towing so went the other way with old vehicle for hunting and the family vehicle gets replaced but is still ok for towing a 5 metre alloy boat. Plus the "better half" didn't like the grubby, smelly utes when we went away.

Reason for asking this is I've looked at the price of new car/4x4/ute/SUVs and on my salary I could afford something pretty reasonable, but to me it doesn't seem to makes sense financially as my current vehicle will do 99% of what a brand new one would do.

But clearly lots of folk are out there buying new vehicles, just wondering who that kind of person is.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

Reason for asking this is I've looked at the price of new car/4x4/ute/SUVs and on my salary I could afford something pretty reasonable, but to me it doesn't seem to makes sense financially as my current vehicle will do 99% of what a brand new one would do.

But clearly lots of folk are out there buying new vehicles, just wondering who that kind of person is.

Do you mean you can afford one as in rock up and pay cash and drive away, or you can afford one as in put it on tick and pay it off? Those low interest rates sure look good until you realise what you're losing in depreciation (unless it's a business vehicle) along with the extra paid in interest and fees etc

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Do you mean you can afford one as in rock up and pay cash and drive away, or you can afford one as in put it on tick and pay it off? Those low interest rates sure look good until you realise what you're losing in depreciation (unless it's a business vehicle) along with the extra paid in interest and fees etc

I could pay a sizable chunk with cash and pay the rest on finance, or put it on the mortgage.
Either way any money I spend on a vehicle is money that would (arguably) be better spent paying off my mortgage.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

I could pay a sizable chunk with cash and pay the rest on finance, or put it on the mortgage.
Either way any money I spend on a vehicle is money that would (arguably) be better spent paying off my mortgage.

If you use one of those mortgage calculator you will find that even dumping 10k on a mortgage will save a huge amount of interest.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

If you use one of those mortgage calculator you will find that even dumping 10k on a mortgage will save a huge amount of interest.

Putting 15k on the mortage to fix the 4wd you just bought is no so attractive tho either.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

Reason for asking this is I've looked at the price of new car/4x4/ute/SUVs and on my salary I could afford something pretty reasonable, but to me it doesn't seem to makes sense financially as my current vehicle will do 99% of what a brand new one would do.

But clearly lots of folk are out there buying new vehicles, just wondering who that kind of person is.

Keep your old vehicle and put the money saved into time off work to do whatever you want ie unpaid leave to go away hunting or fishing

Originally Posted by Beetroot

Reason for asking this is I've looked at the price of new car/4x4/ute/SUVs and on my salary I could afford something pretty reasonable, but to me it doesn't seem to makes sense financially as my current vehicle will do 99% of what a brand new one would do.

But clearly lots of folk are out there buying new vehicles, just wondering who that kind of person is.

I have always bought both 500- dollar cheapys and 16-20k 4wds and had a pretty good run untill I upgraded my LN106 to a 80 series cruiser then shit when pearshaped...for what that thing cost me in 3 years I could have had a new triton/dmax/hilux/bt50 and taken the family on holiday to Rarotonga.

Went back to cheap shit.....still costing big dollars to maintain (actually the swb Rav 4 was the best 4wd I have ever owned in maintenance/repar cost and purchase/sell cost but it would never be a long term proposition with the use it was getting)

I was in a vehicle rut bad.

Very high km hilux/ranger etc I could get for late teens to low twentys and have a high probability of a first gen common rail shitting itself and costing me the same again....Burnt too many times I just couldn't risk it spending 20k on a worn out ute so tho I couldnt really afford it I went new with warranty....No regrets so far and new vehicles are so much better to drive than 25-30y old ones.